6/8/2007
Unnecessarily harsh gang bill introduced in the Senate
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) recently introduced S. 456, the “Gang Abatement and Prevention Act of 2007.” Don’t be daunted by the fact that this is a “gang” bill. While it does not contain specific mandatory minimums, the bill is troubling because it increases existing sentences, adds consecutive penalties (a kind of mandatory minimum), broadens the definition of gangs and creates numerous new federal crimes even though gang deterrence is best handled by state and local officials.
S. 456 places funding and emphasis on suppression and prosecution, rather than prevention, to address our nation’s gang problems though such “reactive models” are the most costly and least effective approach. As Greg Croteau, Executive Director of the United Teen Equality Center in Lowell, Massachusetts, astutely stated at the Senate Judiciary Committee’s June 5 hearing on this bill, “Intervention and prevention cannot be seen as an “add-on” to a community approach heavily weighted toward enforcement and prosecution. As many other researchers have commented, we cannot just lock away the problem.”
His testimony and that of other witnesses at the hearing can be found on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s website at http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearing.cfm?id=2805.
For a detailed critique of the bill, please refer to the Federal Public Defender’s letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Among its most disturbing provisions, the bill:
• Creates new consecutive penalties for any felony “crime of violence” committed or attempted during and in relation to a drug trafficking offense or while being an alien present in the United States
• Imposes overly broad definitions of “criminal street gangs” and “gang crimes”
• Extensively federalizes local crime;
• Adds new federal offenses and broadens existing ones to reach even minor “crimes of violence.”
S. 456 may be "marked-up" in the Senate Judiciary Committee as early as Thursday, June 14. FAMM will be sure to keep update the website with any developments.